On behalf of Orin and the rest of the Oddwalk family, I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope that this season finds you spending time with friends and family.
This week is going to be especially great for me. Tuesday night, I am going out to dinner with my cousins. This is something we try and due over the holiday season, but it will be more special this year as we will be joined by my cousin, Heidi. Heidi is a lay missioner for the Maryknoll Missionaries. Currently she is working in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Because of the distance we don't see her very often, so Tuesday night should be a lot of fun.
On Thursday night, I'll be traveling to Belleville for the Youth Sing Praise Reunion. I have been involved in Youth Sing Praise (YSP)for a long time now, and I can tell you that it is an outstanding Catholic music camp for high school students. The participants of YSP form a tight knit family, and many of the friendships formed in this program last for many years. To learn more about Youth Sing Praise, visit the Shrine Youth Ministry website.
Please know that you are in our prayers during this holiday season.
-Shannon
Monday, December 26, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Christmas Music Quiz
Can you figure out the more common name for these familiar Christmas tunes? Answers in the comments!
CHRISTMAS SONG TRIVIA QUIZ
1. Have hither ward the entire assembly of those who are loyal in their
belief.
2. Listen, the celestial messengers produce harmonious sounds.
3. Nocturnal time span of unbroken quietness.
4. An emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good given to the
terrestrial sphere.
5. Embellish the structural supports with botanical evergreens.
6. Exalted heavenly beings to whom harkened.
7. Twelve o'clock on a clement night witnessed its arrival.
8. The Christmas preceding all others.
9. Small municipality in Judas southeast of Jerusalem.
10. Diminutive, masculine master of skin covered percussionist cylinders.
11. Omnipotent supreme being who elicits respite to ecstatic distinguished
males.
12. Tranquility upon the terrestrial sphere.
13. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounds of minute
crystals.
14. Expectation of arrival to populated areas by mythical, masculine
perennial gift giver.
15. Natal celebration devoid of color, rather albino, as a hallucinatory
phenomenon for me.
16. The first person nominative plural of far eastern heads of state.
17. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulous in inverted, metallic .
18. In distant location the existence of an improvised unit of newborn
children's slumber furniture.
19. Proceed forth declaring upon a specific geological alpine formation.
20. Jovial yuletide desired for the second person singular or plural by us.
CHRISTMAS SONG TRIVIA QUIZ
1. Have hither ward the entire assembly of those who are loyal in their
belief.
2. Listen, the celestial messengers produce harmonious sounds.
3. Nocturnal time span of unbroken quietness.
4. An emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good given to the
terrestrial sphere.
5. Embellish the structural supports with botanical evergreens.
6. Exalted heavenly beings to whom harkened.
7. Twelve o'clock on a clement night witnessed its arrival.
8. The Christmas preceding all others.
9. Small municipality in Judas southeast of Jerusalem.
10. Diminutive, masculine master of skin covered percussionist cylinders.
11. Omnipotent supreme being who elicits respite to ecstatic distinguished
males.
12. Tranquility upon the terrestrial sphere.
13. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounds of minute
crystals.
14. Expectation of arrival to populated areas by mythical, masculine
perennial gift giver.
15. Natal celebration devoid of color, rather albino, as a hallucinatory
phenomenon for me.
16. The first person nominative plural of far eastern heads of state.
17. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulous in inverted, metallic .
18. In distant location the existence of an improvised unit of newborn
children's slumber furniture.
19. Proceed forth declaring upon a specific geological alpine formation.
20. Jovial yuletide desired for the second person singular or plural by us.
A Clarifiation of Sorts
This is not me (Orin). Nor am I one of Toronto's most wanted.Weird what turns up when you do a Google image search for yourself. I'm also not a beekeeper nor a silent movie star. I know, hard to believe. I am the Assistant director of the St. Louis Chamber Chorus, which thankfully is the first picture and link to show up. I am also many other things: husband, mac/treo addict, egg-nog drinker, Oddwalker, haiku-writer, etc.
But I'm not this guy. The end.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
The Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas Debate
Hello!
Recently, my friend, Fr. Jamie Smith, weighed in on the touchy subject of how to greet people during the holiday season. For my money, he's right on. You can check out his entry here.
-Shannon
Recently, my friend, Fr. Jamie Smith, weighed in on the touchy subject of how to greet people during the holiday season. For my money, he's right on. You can check out his entry here.
-Shannon
Key-Sword-Tar
Strongbad has one. You have to wait for it, though.
Key-Sword-Tars are pure awesomeness.
PS - Don't forget to keep playing our Haiku Challenge!
Key-Sword-Tars are pure awesomeness.
PS - Don't forget to keep playing our Haiku Challenge!
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Haiku Challenge
Inspired by this blog, we present the Oddwalk Haiku Challenge.
Well, it's not really much of a challenge. If you read this blog (I'm looking at you Marianne), simply use the comments to add a Haiku of your own. The only rule, besides the 5-7-5 syllables, is that your haiku must begin with the last word of the one before it. For instance:
It is cold outside.
Minnesota is colder.
Orin misses home.
Your next Haiku would begin with the word "Home." You can play more than once!
Well, it's not really much of a challenge. If you read this blog (I'm looking at you Marianne), simply use the comments to add a Haiku of your own. The only rule, besides the 5-7-5 syllables, is that your haiku must begin with the last word of the one before it. For instance:
It is cold outside.
Minnesota is colder.
Orin misses home.
Your next Haiku would begin with the word "Home." You can play more than once!
Monday, December 5, 2005
Mike Patin's Traveling Roller Bag
Mike Patin is a friend of Oddwalk's, so we just had to point you in his direction for this funny story.
When we saw him at NCYC this year, his roller bag didn't make it to Atlanta with him - it decided instead to visit South Africa without him. You can read about that incident on his blog too.
Well, guess what - the bag did it again, this time going to New Jersey while he was returning to Louisiana.
As Mike says, the bag is racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles!
Reminds me a bit of the Travelocity Roaming Gnome (video clip).
Check out the full stories on Mike's blog here.
When we saw him at NCYC this year, his roller bag didn't make it to Atlanta with him - it decided instead to visit South Africa without him. You can read about that incident on his blog too.
Well, guess what - the bag did it again, this time going to New Jersey while he was returning to Louisiana.
As Mike says, the bag is racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles!
Reminds me a bit of the Travelocity Roaming Gnome (video clip).
Check out the full stories on Mike's blog here.
Saturday, December 3, 2005
Fundraiser at Wash U.
Oddwalk is excited to be heading to Washington University in St. Louis to be a part of a fundraising concert for their Campus Ministry's Social Justice trip to Bangladesh next year.
Shannon's cousin Pete (find him on this page) is organizing it, and asked us to open for Javier Mendoza, who is active at their student center along with his other performance schedule.
Please support this trip if you can: by coming to the concert tonight (saturday) or by contacting Pete at
Pete Cerneka
Service and Social Justice Coordinator
Catholic Student Center, Washington University
6352 Forsyth Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63105-2269
cerneka@washucsc.org
314-935-9191, x209
Shannon's cousin Pete (find him on this page) is organizing it, and asked us to open for Javier Mendoza, who is active at their student center along with his other performance schedule.
Please support this trip if you can: by coming to the concert tonight (saturday) or by contacting Pete at
Pete Cerneka
Service and Social Justice Coordinator
Catholic Student Center, Washington University
6352 Forsyth Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63105-2269
cerneka@washucsc.org
314-935-9191, x209
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Harvard Graduate
Hey All,
For those that don't know this already, I, Orin, am a Harvard graduate - BA, 1996. I don't tell you this to boast or to make you bow down to me in homage or anything -- really, if you knew what my degree was in, you'd probably just burst out laughing -- but that's a post for another time.
I tell you this so that you understand why I empathize so much with the following tale.
Ryan Fitzpatrick is a recent Hararvd graduate too, and was it seems a great player in the Ivy League. I don't follow football too closely, but know that in last sunday's game, the Rams' usual starter, Bulger, was out with injury, and the backup, Martin, got hit in the head a few too many times during the game. So Fitzpatrick came in and rallied the team from behind to win the game (in overtime I think).
Anyway, he's all the buzz around St. Louis now, and will probably even start the next game.
But check out this quote from yesterday's Rams press conference - I heard it on the radio driving in today, and thought to myself, "Ah, so I'm not entirely alone."
Fitzpatrick, answering some sort of reporter's question about his academic history, says:
“I’ve heard just about everything. The best is [that] everybody expects me to know every answer to every question. During training camp some guys were in a big, heated discussion, so I walked over to see what they were talking about. They said, ‘Fitz, you can answer this question; you’re from Harvard.’ I said, okay, maybe it’s some trivial question, some history, something. They said, ‘What do you think would hurt more, getting hit in the face by the trunk of an elephant or being kicked in the face by a donkey?’ So that is one of the stranger questions I’ve been asked.”
Amen, brother, Amen.
For those that don't know this already, I, Orin, am a Harvard graduate - BA, 1996. I don't tell you this to boast or to make you bow down to me in homage or anything -- really, if you knew what my degree was in, you'd probably just burst out laughing -- but that's a post for another time.
I tell you this so that you understand why I empathize so much with the following tale.
Ryan Fitzpatrick is a recent Hararvd graduate too, and was it seems a great player in the Ivy League. I don't follow football too closely, but know that in last sunday's game, the Rams' usual starter, Bulger, was out with injury, and the backup, Martin, got hit in the head a few too many times during the game. So Fitzpatrick came in and rallied the team from behind to win the game (in overtime I think).
Anyway, he's all the buzz around St. Louis now, and will probably even start the next game.
But check out this quote from yesterday's Rams press conference - I heard it on the radio driving in today, and thought to myself, "Ah, so I'm not entirely alone."
Fitzpatrick, answering some sort of reporter's question about his academic history, says:
“I’ve heard just about everything. The best is [that] everybody expects me to know every answer to every question. During training camp some guys were in a big, heated discussion, so I walked over to see what they were talking about. They said, ‘Fitz, you can answer this question; you’re from Harvard.’ I said, okay, maybe it’s some trivial question, some history, something. They said, ‘What do you think would hurt more, getting hit in the face by the trunk of an elephant or being kicked in the face by a donkey?’ So that is one of the stranger questions I’ve been asked.”
Amen, brother, Amen.
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